THIS JUST IN! JAMIE FOXX IS BURING UP!

IF YOU'RE NOT RELIGIOUS, IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER. BUT IF YOU ARE, REMEMBER THAT BLASPHEMY USUALLY RESULTS IN A STEEP PENALTY IN ALL RELIGIONS. AND 'I WAS JUST JOKING' USUALLY DOESN'T MITIGATE THE PENALTY.

IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, BLASPHEMY IS SUPPOSED TO MEAN THE PITS OF HELL. HAVE FUN BEING THE 'HOTTEST THING' DOWN THERE, JAMIE.

Today Martin Kobler addressed the United
Nations Security Council in New York. Kobler is the UN
Secretary-General's Special Envoy in Iraq and heads United Nations
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). As usual when we note the report
on Iraq to the Security Council, we do it in two snapshots. It was a
presentation that lasted over 20 minutes. It is important enough -- how
the UN officially views Iraq for public consumption -- to be included
in full. So we spread it out over two snapshots.

Martin
Kobler: Mr. President, as 2012 draws to a close, it is pertinent to
take stock of progress Iraq has made during the last twelve months.
During that time, Iraq has made committed efforts to enforce law and
order following the withdrawal of United States forces. Reclaiming its
rightful place at the diplomatic table, it successfully hosted the 23rd
Arab Summit in Baghdad in April, and, in May, it hosted talks between
Iran and the permanent members of the [Security] Council plus Germany.
In terms of strengthening state institutions, the Human Rights
Commission was established in April and a new board of Commissioners of
the Independent High Electoral Commission was elected in September.
The latter resulted in an agreement on the date for government council
elections in April next year. This progress, however, is in danger by
two factors. First, the stalemate between Iraq's political leaders
and, second, developments in the region. Mr. President, I regret to
report to the Council that estranged relations between Iraq's political
leaders have endured throughout the year. One manifestation of this is
the Arab-Kurdish rift. The lack of trust stems from a number of
pending issues of contention, including power-sharing, security and
tense relations between the central government and the region of
Kurdistan. The resulting political deadlock is preventing the progress
and reform necessary to consolidate Iraq's transition. Attempts to
defuse the stalemate have most recently focused on a package of
political reforms which appears stalled. The government of Iraq's
decision to establish the Tigris Command Operations Command responsible
for overall security in Kirkuk, Salahuddin and the Diyala Govern-ates
has been highly criticized by members of the Kurdistan Regional
Government. A military stand-off ensued, incorporating the armed
forces of the respective governments. The militarization of the
situation has resulted in the regrettable death of one civilian. I
should like to take this opportunity to call on the parties to exercise
all due restraint at this time of increased tensions. I count on the
leadership of the politicians of Iraq to resolve their differences
through political dialog in accordance with the Constitution. In that
regard, I welcome the recent efforts of Parliament Speaker Osama
al-Nujaifi and I also welcome the convening of a meeting between the
Iraqi army and the Peshmerga at the technical level earlier this week in
Baghdad. It is a step in the right direction. And I do encourage both
sides to keep the door open -- of dialog open -- and implement the
understandings reached. UNAMI stands ready to implement any possible
agreement reached that would de-escalate the situation and promote
confidence among the various communities. Over the past few days, Mr.
President, dozens of Iraqi security personnel and civilians -- including
worshipers -- have been killed and many other dozens injured in
Baghdad, Kirkuk, Karbala and Falluja. Extremists use the political
differences of the leaders to ignite either sectarian or ethnic violence
and tensions in Iraq. Immediate resolutions and compromise by all
political leaders should be the response to these attempts. The tense
political standoff is thus testing Iraq's internal fault-lines. August
and September were the deadliest months in the last two years. A
particular atrocious series of attacks on October 27th targeted pilgrims
during holy Eid al-Adha observance. Left unaddressed, the political
impasse will leave Iraq vulnerable to the sectarists of Iraq's ability,
mainly from the spillover of violence in the wider region. Mr.
President, Iraq finds itself in an increasingly unstable region
environment generated by the Syrian Civil War. The Syrian conflict has
exposed a complex web on interconnected and conflicting interests that
threatens to engulf the region in violent conflict. With no immediate
solution to the crisis in sight, there are real risks of spillover,
violence and destabilization. At the domestic level, the conflict
across Iraq's borders has had a significant humanitarian impact on
Iraq. The crisis also impacts on Iraq's relations with her neighbors.
Iraq's relationship with Turkey has also grown increasingly tense in
recent months with an escalation in the rhetoric exchanged on both
sides. The divergent positions between Iraq and other states in the
region on how to address the Syrian crisis have also further strained
their relations. Within this challenging context, however, it is
possible to identify opportunities for UNAMI to continue to assist
Iraq's transition process. Indeed, not withstanding the lack of progress
between Iraq's political leaders, in resolving their differences,
Iraq's expectations on UNAMI continues to grow. UNAMI's assistance,
pursuant to its Council mandate, is focusing on two priority tracks:
First, advancing national reconciliation and dialog and, second,
tackling regional issues. Since my last briefing to the Council, UNAMI
has continued to encourage political leaders to engage in inclusive
dialog to resolve their differences in the spirit and framework of the
Constitution. I've continued to conduct frequent visits to Erbil and
Sulamaniyah to promote such a dialog. I've also conducted intensive
discussions both in Baghdad and in Kirkuk focusing on the holding of the
long overdue governate council elections in Kirkuk. UNAMI's support to
the Council of Representatives on the basis of sustained facilitation
and technical advice contributed to the selection of the IHEC's new
board of commissioners in September -- a proficient and a genuinely and
truly independent IHEC board is essential at this juncture as Iraq
prepares for nationwide governor council elections on 20th of April next
year and legislative elections in 2014.

Factually, we should note that the Arab League Summit was March 29th and not in April. and that it was a failure as judged by who attended. From that day's snapshot:

Who were the notable no-shows? Hamza Hendawi and Lara Jakes (AP) report that
the no-shows included rulers from "Saudi Arabia, Qatar and most other
Gulf countries, as well as Morocco and Jordan -- all of them headed by
Sunni monarchs who deeply distrust the close ties between Baghdad's
Shiite-dominated government and their top regional rival, Iran." The Belfast Telegraph notes, "The only ruler from the Gulf to attend was the Emir of Kuwait, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah."

With regards to IHEC . . .

I like Chris Hedges.
He is someone who tries to tell his truth and I'm always willing to
consider what he says. So let's drop back to election night in the US.
There's Hedges on a really bad program that he really shouldn't have
been on but was. Ava
and I debated whether or not to cover this in real time but decided not
to. Hedges offered his belief that the world itself was in danger and
that the world was being destroyed, to the point that it would be
uninhabitable. He said that in the face of that, other issues were less
important. Other issues identified by him? He immediately went
to women's rights. Isn't that the knee jerk for lefty males every time?

And
Ava and I were watching and giving him consideration because it is true
that planet going down in flames might trump other things. However,
Chris Hedges then remained silent as a dumb ass with a stupid
organization then piped in that he agreed and, by the way, what was
really important and what needed to be focused on was all the enthusiasm
it was building among people of color.

We waited for Hedges to object.

There was no objection and we felt Punk'd.

You
want us to set aside women's rights -- the basic rights of over half
the planet and a group that represents every race and ethnicity known to
humankind -- and yet you're okay with some crap about the 'importance'
of happy thoughts for a certain segment of people? That trumps whether
or not human life can be supported by the planet? An abstract feeling
trumps the basic legal rights of over half the population?

Does
Heges believe that happy thoughts trump the survival of the planet? I
doubt it. But he wasn't willing to object. These conversations happen
over and over. In the US, it's usually a bunch of male Democrats saying
the party could get more votes if they dropped their support for
abortion. (That would of course drive women voters away but the
'brains' making that proposal don't consider women 'real voters'
anyway.) On the left (I'll let the right talk about itself), in the
abstract, the disabled and challenged are treated with respect, men of
color are treated with respect, men of certain ethnicites are treated
with respect, all these groupings get respect and no one's asking that
their rights be ignored or chipped away at. But time and again, women
-- who don't even make up half the Senate in our 'advanced' United
States -- are asked to sacrifice. It's past time for the left to get
honest about what it really thinks about women and how little women
are valued. These continual attacks on women, these continual slights
would not repeatedly happen were women not so devalued. And hats off to
Ruth for her great catch last night
where she noted George Mitrovich reduced a strong Senator to arm candy
because of his own sexism and that he did so while trying to pretend
he's appalled by sexism. to decry sexism. Let's also note that his crap
appeared at The Huffington Post. Time and again, certain women sell all women out so that they can advance on their own. (The term is "queen bee.")

And
time and again, women have to sacrifice and we're so damn sick of it.
Women's rights, their basic rights, Hedges was willing to toss aside for
survival of the planet but not a feel-good mood about an election.
That was important and valid. But the right to self-determination, to
control one's own body, to own property, etc, these were unimportant.

There
is only one woman on the Commission. The law requires women to be a
third of the Commission. The woman was added days after the others and
probably wouldn't have been if even the Iraqi judges weren't publicly
calling out the lack of women on the Commission.

Time
and again, women are made to wait. We're made to wait by Chris Hedges
because it's all about survival, we're made to wait some other reason at
some other time. If Iraq, as it stands currently, cannot follow the
law and cannot appoint three women to IHEC (appoint, not elect, what a
joke that was from Kobler), then exactly when the hell will the law be
followed?

Nouri al-Maliki has
one female minister in his Cabinet. All the rest -- even the so-called
'acting' ministers -- are men. Women continues to be eliminated from
positions of power, women continue to not be seated at the table.
Iraq's female politicians -- especially female members of Iraqiya --
loudly and publicly decried the IHEC board for not having the three
women required by law. But Kobler can't even note that. Kobler happy
stamps it and we're all supposed to accept that?

At
what point is Nouri's government held accountable for its failure to
follow the law? At what point does the United Nations finally find the
guts to call out the disenfranchisement of women? Oh, yes, women were
mentioned -- much later in the speech -- and we'll get to that
tomorrow. As their own little island. As though they're not also
Iraqis, as though Iraq is not also their country, as though they don't
have a right to participate and as though 'success' in Iraq can be
judged without considering what's happened to Iraq women.

How very sad.

Today Iraq was slammed with multiple bombings and shootings leading Antiwar.com to dub it a "bloodbath." Margaret Gtiffis (Antiwar.com) counts 54 dead and 237 injured in the day's cycle of violence. RT notes,
"Two roadside bombs in the city of Hilla blew up a group of Shiite
pilgrims, leaving at least 26 people dead and several dozen wounded. The
bombs struck a commercial area of the city during a busy period.
Another attack happened in the shrine city of Karbala, 90 kilometers
to the south of Baghdad. A car bomb killed 6 civilians and wounded 20,
some of them police officers.­" And RT has three Reuters photos of the aftermath of those two bombings. Today's violence continues the week's trend of attacks. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observes, "Attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday left at least 38 people dead and more than 130 wounded."

In Hilla, AFP notes,
"Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area of the blasts and set up
checkpoints in the city to search cars, an AFP correspondent said,
adding that shops near the site were shuttered after the attack." Ali al-Rubaie (Reuters) quotes
teacher Ihsan al-Khalidi explaining, "We started to stop civilian cars
asking them to take the wounded to hospital since there were not enough
ambulances to transfer them." Sinan Salaheddin (AP) provides
these details on the Hilla aftermath, "Twisted and charred remains of
vehicles were seen outside damaged shops as shop owners collected their
strewn merchandise from the bloodstained pavement, littered with
debris." On the Karbala attack, Al Jazeera explains,
"In the shrine city of Karbala, a car bomb killed four and left another
16 people wounded. The bomber parked the vehicle near the entrance of
the Imam Abbas shrine. Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from Baghad,
said the holy site made for a 'very daring' attack in Karbala." Xinhua adds, "Iraqi
security forces blocked the roads to central Karbala which leads to the
shrine of Imam Hussein, one of the 12 most Shiite revered Imams." Al Bawaba notes that Shi'ites were the targets in the attacks on those two cities while other bombs today were targeting security forces.